Beginner’s guide to Bitcoin – how the cryptocurrency works and how it can make you gain or lose money

Its value has increased 125,000-fold since 2010 and Julian Assange claims it has helped to bankroll him and Wikileaks. But experts cannot agree whether Bitcoin is the future or a bubble waiting to burst

By Danny Collins

15th February 2018,9:40 am

Updated: 15th February 2018,9:49 am

IT’S 2010 and you walk into your local Post Office, slap £75 on the counter and ask for your money back in dollars.

The cashier hands you back $121.50 for your hard-earned pounds – $22 more than you would get back for the same transaction today.